Sermon(Ps 49): God the Deliverer

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025356606

 

 

>> .... 5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, 6 men who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? 7 Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life, 8 for the ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice, ... 10 Yea, he shall see that even the wise die, the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own. 12 Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish. .... 15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. .... 18 ... though a man gets praise when he does well for himself, 19 he will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never more see the light. ... (Ps 49) <<

 

(Some front part does not need to be translated into English.) Which would you choose if asked to choose one of the two, a full pig and a hungry Socrates? Some people make money by any means and live in licentiousness and debauchery. These can be compared to pigs. You won't support such a vulgar life if you think a little about the meaning of the human life. On the contrary, I don't know if Socrates really lived in poverty, but there are some people in the world who hardly think of working for living but rather suffer hunger, thinking themselves to be noblemen who respect studies and value ethics and morals. They belong to the hungry Socrates. This kind of life also is not commendable. Of course, it could be a decent life if you live happily with a clear mind and are thankful for everything to God even though you suffer a little hunger. But you ought to think again whether or not a man may live as a philosopher, being burdensome to others, and begging others for food. In general, neither of the two is wholesome, but if I must chose one, I'd like to choose the hungry Socrates, which less makes me commit sins. However, Christianity does not make this the criterion for success in life, much wealth itself and much learning itself. "Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! (v. 1, 2)" A valuable life in Christianity is 'to give ear to God' and 'to obey God's words'.

 

Humans are different from animals in that they are endowed with reason by God. Therefore humans are capable of thinking and reasoning. We must, while living in the world, think of ourselves, of the world, and of the meaning of life. We can live as good humans when we think of them. Precious and beautiful are those who think beautifully and practice their beautiful thoughts. Look at Joseph. He suffered much because his brothers had sold him as a slave. But how many good thoughts and deeds came from him when he weighed God's plans and had mercy on his brothers? We must make full use of the reason God has given us, in order to avoid foolishness and live a successful life with wisdom and understanding. In other words, never live blindly, but live prudently. "My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. (v. 3)"

 

The author of the psalm 49 thinks deeply about life and gives words of wisdom to us. What he discovered is this, that no one can save himself (or his life). Of course, when you go to jail because you have sinned, you can be released from jail by paying a fine or the price of release with the money you earned. But life is related to death. When a man dies, can someone else pay ransom to release him from the world of death (Sheol)? No way! Can he then free himself from death with the money he earned? Impossible! Above all, all the money he earned goes to others the moment he dies. "Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life. (v. 7)" "Yea, he shall see that even the wise die, the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own. (v. 10, 11)"

 

My brethren! Do you want to be wise? Think of death first. And bear this in mind, that your wealth can't keep you alive forever. Therefore it is the most foolish to accumulate wealth incessantly without spending it for oneself. The stupidest man in the world lays up money and piles it mountain high, restrains himself from rich meals, lives the life of a miser, then dies. It is but an optical illusion if you think that you can live long automatically if you have laid up a lot of money. Those who use their wealth for good are wise. If you think of your own death in advance, you will not blindly accumulate wealth and then suddenly depart this world one day only to leave good things for others. If you think of death, you use your wealth for the good of God and others. Since no one can save his own life, those who do not have a good relationship with God but rely on their riches and boast of a lot of money are fools and will perish like beasts forever.

 

The writer of Ps 49 acknowledges the absolute value of human life. "The ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice. (v. 8)" The writer sees that all human beings die and can never return to this world again, and discovers the absolute value of human life. In other words, he discovers that it is impossible to turn a man or even a worm from death to life by all wealth of the world. My brethren, acknowledge this absolute value of life. All life is precious. A life can only be killed to save another life. In other words, it is legal for humans to eat livestock to survive. However, if you hurt a life just for fun, you lack the reverence of God. Human life is so precious, but in some countries, there are people who abduct humans, kill them, and extract organs to sell them, and people who rape women for a momental pleasure and kill them for fear of being caught and going to jail. Truly, they take life too lightly. We should value the lives of others and have compassion and pity on them. The psalmist discovers the preciousness of human life and the human inability. He realizes that human life is precious, but man himself is neither qualified nor able to keep the life forever. To know this is wisdom. He who considers his life valuable and precious does not live recklessly. He who acknowledges his inability does not become proud but becomes humble, and seeks after One who will most certainly give him eternal life.

 

The psalmist discovers the One who will save him, an incompetent man. "But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (v. 15)" The power of Sheol is the eternal hell in the New Testament words. Of course, the Sheol is thought to be the underworld where the dead reside. The psalmist, though a man of the Old Testament times, believes in a resurrection after death. He confesses that it is God who gives the grace of resurrection. It is a result of wise thinking, to believe that God will save humans who have to go to hell thanks to their inability. Of course, some of those whom God gave such wisdom can understand the truth, but do not attain to the truth because they neglect to think about the truth. The author of the text realized that man could not save himself and that only God the Creator could save them, and that he actually had such a plan. He realized that, if God is the Creator, he must love things he created, especially humans, and must give humans eternal life. If you are parents, you can understand that God loves humans, so that he saves them. Because just as parents love and care for their unmatured children and want to give them good things, so God the Creator is sure to love and take care of powerless humans, and give them a good thing, the eternal life. At first, (when I was in middle school,) I went to church just for fun, but I did not have any doubts about the existence of God then. Lady (Miss) Hong, a church teacher, advised me to come to church, and I went to church, then I believed in God without any particular grounds or reasons. That's the way I became a Christian. (Her beautiful smile was the decisive factor for me to believe in God.) It was when I thought, as a high school student, of a dust in the air that I recognized the real existence of God. 'That dust does not exist by its own power. Therefore there must be a Creator who created it!' When I thought about myself, I could intuit that I did not exist by myself (by my existing ability). That's when I really received the personal God. When we reflect on ourselves and the world, we can realize some really important truths. During the reflection, we can understand that man cannot deliver himself, that only God delivers him by free grace.

 

The truth the psalmist discovered is that he who lives without God is like the beasts that perish (v. 12, 20). In the verses 12 and 20 of the New (Korean) Standard Version, the phrase 'no matter how great a man is' is added. Every man is sure to die and to have a grave for his eternal abode no matter how much money he has, no matter how high his position is, no matter how much he is praised as a competent man because he has succeeded in everything he did. Their future is no better than beasts' (v. 12). "Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling places to all generations. (v. 11)" There is no wealth in the world that can bring you out of the world of death. Therefore, for you all things of the world end when you die. But the psalmist realizes that those who have lived relying on God will surely overcome death and live forever. "But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (v. 15)" It is truly precious and true to believe that eternal life will be given to those who live a God-fearing life and walk with him, and that those who live their own life zealously without God all the days of their life will die and be like beasts that perish (v. 20).

 

Realizing this fact, the psalmist shakes off all complaints about life. A deep consideration leads us to that conclusion. Looking at verses 5 and 6, we can see that the psalmist affirms that he will never fear when those ungodly people who have succeeded greatly in the world persecute him. He thinks that they are never to be envied. And why should they be feared if they have earned much money only to give it all to others when they die and if they rot and perish in their graves forever? They are neither the object of fear nor the object of envy, but just poor people who have abandoned reason like beasts that perish. It can't be a big matter if they become my enemies and persecute me for a while, considering my eternal life and their bad future. Another thing we need to think about is this: The world is fair(, a world where God rules). A man who has a lot of work to do and makes a lot of money has a hard time doing it, and instead lives a little richer. However, those who don't have much to do and make much money don't have much to pay attention to, so that they do not have hard time working but must suffer a little poverty, a little discomfort. Therefore you should not envy the rich or be pessimistic about being poor. The pastor of a large church has a full schedule of the wedding speeches for the saints on Saturday, but the pastor of a small church can prepare a Sunday sermon in a quiet place on the same day. The world is fair, so it is a precious wisdom to live in gratitude and seek your own happiness in God. Doesn't the psalmist say, "No matter how rich a man is, he cannot ransom himself (v. 6, 7)"? Therefore he says that he, considering his eternal life, would not envy those who, not knowing God, are very rich. "No matter how rich they are, ... (in Korean version)" "Be not afraid (do not feel ashamed of yourself, in Korean version) when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. (v. 16)"

 

Nevertheless it is better for you to be rich rather than to be poor, I think. I hope that you will become a man of great wealth in God. However don't be stingy but generous when you are rich. Be a rich man, but a wise rich man. Live in the good impression of God and people by the wealth you have earned honestly. If you're poor, you must know that there are a lot of happiness even to the poor. So you must give thanks to God at all times, especially must not envy the wicked when all goes well with them, and never complain over them. Don't you know that the gratitude of the poor is the most precious fragrant offering to God?

 

May gracious God grant all of you the eternal heaven, and also grant you the heavenly holy blessings and the earthly rich blessings today.

 

Chong Tack Kim

- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -

 

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